My Aspirations as the New
Chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association

I feel the time has come when
we have to view the general climate in which the Japanese automobile manufacturing
industry has to operate from a global perspective and recognize the trends that
affect the world as a whole, be it the border-less economy, globalization or the
IT revolution.

Today's Japanese automobile industry
differs from the past in that there is an ever-increasing development toward the
internationalization of capital and operation. I therefore feel that in the future
we at JAMA need to do business by clearly establishing the principles of openness
and transparency.

With the 21st century
before us, the issues we have to tackle naturally include the problems of safety
and the environment as well as information technology. Nevertheless we also believe
that the automobile will remain at the heart of manufacturing also in the coming
century and in this sense we want to do our work with an open mind to the possibilities
of how we can apply IT to our manufacturing activities.

Running out of the deadline for the Japan-US Automobile Agreement

This is an issue between the
governments of the two countries. Our Association is not directly involved in
this problem.
We will not want to make any comments on this and feel it is better not to.

Effect on the Automobile Manufacturing Industry of the General Election if it
Takes Place in June

If the general election can contribute
to greater political stability I would prefer it to take place as early as possible.

I do not feel that the outcome
of the election would have any direct effect on the automobile industry.